Fish Taco Enchiladas

My dining room table is a battlefield.

I don't mean the battle over homework, though that also occurs at the dining room table, the breakfast nook table, and the Lego table.  I also don't mean the battle for Europe, or orange train cars, or vending cart cards, or goats for women.

Though as an aside, if you want to add more board games to your Game Nights I highly recommend the Board Game Family's recommendations. My spouse, with that site's advice, kickstarted our twice weekly FGNs after years of trying and failing to get a FGN routine going. And these games we play?  Great for adults without kids, too--they are just plain fun, unless you're malicious like my daughter playing Spot It--she always wins.

No, in fact I mean the How To Fold A Burrito Properly battle.  There are 4 of us eating, and we each fold our burritos in a different way.  And of course each one of us thinks we're right.  (My spouse is.) You'll notice in my Mu Shu (ish) Chicken Burrito post that I completely sidestepped the folding debate.  I'm sidestepping it again here, this time by making enchiladas! (I'm sure this says something about my personality or birth order or whatnot, but perhaps it's just that in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter to me how you fold your burrito.  Your sushi rolling is a different story.) I'm sharing this now because it is a tasty recipe and helped me to add variety in the proteins that we eat.

It just makes sense that eating a variety of foods in our diet is best, you know?  My family is fortunate that eating seasonally from our CSA farm share means that the produce in our diet (and that of the composting guinea pigs) is naturally varied.

I mean, I'm not going to the grocery store on Saturday and buying a head of lettuce, a package of tomatoes, a bag of carrots, and a bunch of bananas each and every week all year 'round.  Instead I'm yearning for tomatoes amidst the greens in May and overrun with squash and eggplant in August.  Such is the life of a CSA subscriber!  And that's the way I like it--eating from my CSA farm share appeals to me in ways I never considered when we started 8 years ago. I thought it would be similar when we got part of a cow for our freezer.  And it was, in part--we tried beef tongue tacos and ox tail stew for the first time.

What I didn't realize was that we'd end up eating more beef than we usually do, just because we have it in the house.  I have to work at eating protein sources other than beef--which is why I was tickled to see frozen Swai (aka Pangasius or Basa) fillets for $1.99/pound at the store.  Swai is a white fleshed fish in the "Good Alternative" category on the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch website.  Protein that is a Good Alternative, that is a great price, is good for me.

But what to do with the Swai fillets?

I had some leftover shredded cabbage/coleslaw mix, cilantro, Greek yogurt, some of my home-canned salsa verde made with farm share tomatillos and roasted Hatch chiles from the grocery store down the street, and enchilada-size tortillas, so you can easily see why I went in the direction I did here.  While it is technically an enchilada, it's not covered with a ton of cheese and a rich sauce.  The cabbage still had a bit of crunch to it, the fish was firm, the whole dish just worked.  If you have Swai or any firm white-fleshed fish (tilapia, cod, perch and whitefish are all on the approved list of the website) try this twist on the traditional fish taco, avoid the burrito-folding battles, and add variety to your plate.

Fish Taco Enchiladas (serves 6)

2 Swai fillets, cut into bite sized chunks

1/4 cup vinaigrette (I had an Italian style handy, use what you have)

1/2 teaspoon Arizona Dreaming or other salt-free Southwestern style seasoning blend

2 Tablespoons mayonnaise

2 Tablespoons Greek yoghurt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

4 cups shredded cabbage

1/3 cup chopped sweet onion

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (stems to the composting pigs!)

1/2 cup prepared salsa verde (can your own--I use roasted Hatch chiles and farm share tomatillos)

6 enchilada-size tortillas (try making your own--whole wheat version or spiced version)

1 cup shredded mild white cheese (I used Icelandic Gouda, but Monterey Jack would be fine)

guacamole and additional salsa verde for serving

Combine fish, vinaigrette, and seasoning in a shallow pan (I used a glass pie pan).  Set aside to marinate for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Bake for 20 minutes until fish is just firm and cooked through.

In a medium bowl whisk mayonnaise, yogurt, and lemon juice until thoroughly combined.  Fold in cabbage, onion and cilantro until it is thoroughly coated with dressing.

Spread half of the salsa verde across the bottom of a 9 inch square baking pan.

On each tortilla, spread a (about 1/6th) layer of cabbage topped with many (about 1/6th) pieces of fish as shown above.  Roll up and lay seam side down in the prepared pan.  When all the fish and cabbage are used up, spread all the rolls with the rest of the salsa verde (I ended up using my fingers for this one).  Top with cheese.  Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees until cheese is melted and browned.

Serve with guacamole and additional salsa verde, though don't leave such a wide gap on the plate like I did unless you know how to easily put words on your photo so it doesn't look like such a glaring white space like it does to me.  I'm not satisfied with what I've done here, I'd prefer the words to wrap closer to the enchilada.

This post is shared with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop at The Chicken Chick, What's Cookin' Wednesday at Buns In My Oven,  Taste and Tell Thursdays, the Farm Girl Blog Fest, and Seafood Frenzy Fridays.